International Stefan Heym Awards

With the poetry slam "Slam goes Heym", Elisabeth Neuhaus wants to familiarise a young audience with Stefan Heym. Heym's life, work and influence will form the thematic basis for pupils' own poetic texts, which will lead into the modern format of the poetry slam. The project combines creative writing, a public presentation and an examination of the poet of the century Stefan Heym and his life.

Katja Wenzel researches the parallels, differences and interactions in Heym's relationships with the two African-American artists who had chosen to live in the GDR. Heym, Harrington and Pankey were united by the experience of arbitrary attributions of 'nation' and 'race'. How did they reflect on and artistically process the discrepancy between anti-racist symbolic politics and real experiences of discrimination? The project poses these and other questions and thus provides a differentiated view of the GDR. As part of her research, the freelance dramaturge and author is planning interviews with contemporary witnesses and visits to the "Stefan Heym archive" in Cambridge.

Gerald Richter and Marian Kretschmer receive the sponsorship awards for the second time for a multi-faceted project: their previously award-winning graphic novel on the life of Stefan Heym will now be presented to and discussed with school students. A film project with short videos about Heym is also planned. There will also be an (art) workshop on Heym's works, in which illustrations and large-format banners will be created. The results of the project will be blogged on the internet and published via social media.

In her project, Ingrid Schreyer describes her relationship with Stefan Heym. The experiences are to be published in book form. The result is a new literary work on the life of Stefan Heym and thus a new approach in the field of legacy research.

Gerald Richter and Marian Kretschmer (7,500 euros)

Gerald Richter and Marian Kretschmer use various participatory formats to familiarise pupils at Chemnitz schools with the life and work of Stefan Heym. In the spirit of Heym, they want to encourage young people to find their own way and get involved. Holiday workshops are planned to design banners, posters, flyers, bookmarks and short videos.

Dr Jürgen Nitsche (2,500 euros)

Dr Jürgen Nitsche uses Heym's autobiography as a starting point to open up the writer's immediate social environment in Chemnitz to all interested readers.

Ludwig Streng (2,500 euros)

Ludwig Streng uses music to create a new approach to Stefan Heym's lesser-known poetry and its genesis. The compositions will be played and recorded.

Liv Heym (4,000 euros)

Liv Heym, granddaughter of Stefan Heym, accompanies Heym's "Obituary" with music and pays particular attention to the social component of the venues for her concert readings: In addition to public stages, voluntary performances are planned in schools, care homes, museums and prisons.

Beate Kunath (3,500 euros)

Seven of Stefan Heym's companions recall personal encounters in interviews with filmmaker Beate Kunath and open up their very own perspective on Heym's work. The interviews will be filmed.

Karl-Schmidt-Rottluff-Gymnasium school support association, represented by headmaster Ronald Langhoff (4,000 euros)

The competition encourages young adolescents to follow Stefan Heym's example - to write. The young people actively engage artistically with the reality around them. In view of the upcoming 150th anniversary of the Karl-Schmidt-Rottluff-Gymnasium in 2018, the Board of Trustees considers the compilation of the best entries from all the competitions in a volume of poetry to be a fitting tribute to the long-standing commitment of the pupils, but also to those responsible for the project at Stefan Heym's former school.

Historian Dr Jürgen Nitsche (3,000 euros)

In the opinion of the Board of Trustees, the project is a field of research that has not yet been explored. Not only is there a close connection to Stefan Heym's life and the history of the city of Chemnitz, but further links to Stefan Heym's life, such as his relationship with companions during this time, are to be expected.

International Stefan Heym Society e. V., represented by Prof Dr Bernadette Malinowski (2,600 euros)

The Board of Trustees recognises the potential of an exploratory trip to the Stefan Heym Archive in Cambridge by the Chair of Modern German and Comparative Literature as a source of academic desiderata, but also as a prelude to the establishment of a focus on the academic study of Stefan Heym in a Stefan Heym Research Centre in the city of Chemnitz.

Theresia-Gerhardinger-Gymnasium Munich, represented by Elisabeth Neuhaus (2,500 euros)

In the opinion of the Board of Trustees, the pupils of the girls' grammar school in Munich's engagement with Stefan Heym as part of a scientific propaedeutic seminar and the working visit to Chemnitz are excellently suited to passing on Stefan Heym's memory to the younger generation and an opportunity for the pupils to actively learn lessons from Stefan Heym's life.

Verein Kunstzone Schwarzenberg-Aue e. V., represented by Jörg Beier (2,500 euros)

The Board of Trustees honours and finances the part of the project in which school pupils deal with the concept of home as part of an educationally supervised school project. The concept of home is explored in the context of Stefan Heym's life and at the same time allows the pupils to address current issues.

Gerald Richter and Marian Kretschmer (7,500 euros)

Gerald Richter and Marian Kretschmer use various participatory formats to familiarise pupils at Chemnitz schools with the life and work of Stefan Heym. In the spirit of Heym, they want to encourage young people to find their own way and get involved. Holiday workshops are planned to design banners, posters, flyers, bookmarks and short videos.

Dr Jürgen Nitsche (2,500 euros)

Dr Jürgen Nitsche uses Heym's autobiography as a starting point to open up the writer's immediate social environment in Chemnitz to all interested readers.

Ludwig Streng (2,500 euros)

Ludwig Streng uses music to create a new approach to Stefan Heym's lesser-known poetry and its genesis. The compositions will be played and recorded.

Liv Heym (4,000 euros)

Liv Heym, granddaughter of Stefan Heym, accompanies Heym's "Obituary" with music and pays particular attention to the social component of the venues for her concert readings: In addition to public stages, voluntary performances are planned in schools, care homes, museums and prisons.

Beate Kunath (3,500 euros)

Seven of Stefan Heym's companions recall personal encounters in interviews with filmmaker Beate Kunath and open up their very own perspective on Heym's work. The interviews will be filmed.

Karl-Schmidt-Rottluff-Gymnasium school support association, represented by headmaster Ronald Langhoff (4,000 euros)

The competition encourages young adolescents to follow Stefan Heym's example - to write. The young people actively engage artistically with the reality around them. In view of the upcoming 150th anniversary of the Karl-Schmidt-Rottluff-Gymnasium in 2018, the Board of Trustees considers the compilation of the best entries from all the competitions in a volume of poetry to be a fitting tribute to the long-standing commitment of the pupils, but also to those responsible for the project at Stefan Heym's former school.

Historian Dr Jürgen Nitsche (3,000 euros)

In the opinion of the Board of Trustees, the project is a field of research that has not yet been explored. Not only is there a close connection to Stefan Heym's life and the history of the city of Chemnitz, but further links to Stefan Heym's life, such as his relationship with companions during this time, are to be expected.

International Stefan Heym Society e. V., represented by Prof Dr Bernadette Malinowski (2,600 euros)

The Board of Trustees recognises the potential of an exploratory trip to the Stefan Heym Archive in Cambridge by the Chair of Modern German and Comparative Literature as a source of academic desiderata, but also as a prelude to the establishment of a focus on the academic study of Stefan Heym in a Stefan Heym Research Centre in the city of Chemnitz.

Theresia-Gerhardinger-Gymnasium Munich, represented by Elisabeth Neuhaus (2,500 euros)

In the opinion of the Board of Trustees, the pupils of the girls' grammar school in Munich's engagement with Stefan Heym as part of a scientific propaedeutic seminar and the working visit to Chemnitz are excellently suited to passing on Stefan Heym's memory to the younger generation and an opportunity for the pupils to actively learn lessons from Stefan Heym's life.

Verein Kunstzone Schwarzenberg-Aue e. V., represented by Jörg Beier (2,500 euros)

The Board of Trustees honours and finances the part of the project in which school pupils deal with the concept of home as part of an educationally supervised school project. The concept of home is explored in the context of Stefan Heym's life and at the same time allows the pupils to address current issues.